So-called Cartesian style gantry robots have long been used in top loading applications. The design of such devices permits them to pick product and to reach into deep cases for the packing of product. While such robots have proven highly satisfactory for many case packing applications, their use in highly sanitary environments such as in the packing of meats and dairy products has proven somewhat undesirable due to their many horizontal flat surfaces and the presence of such structures as timing belts which make their sanitation difficult.
Some articulated robots on the other hand while proving highly desirable for sanitary applications have, because of their structure, not been suited to, for example case packing, due do the relatively large footprint needed to accommodate such a robot in a case packing situation and their limited ability to reach into a deep packing case or other receptacle. Many articulated robots also include elements or parts that are subject to contamination making them equally inapplicable to sanitary applications. Such articulated robots often include “sealed”, covered or closed portions that can be penetrated my contaminating liquids or the like, making them inappropriate for use in sanitary applications and environments. Accordingly, articulated robots have been designed and utilized primarily in welding and painting applications where multiple shallow reaches are necessary and not specifically for case packing operations where deep reaching into a case, crate or box, for example, is needed.
Additionally, while Cartesian gantry robots are generally PLC based in their controls and thus readily serviced or programmed by more generally trained operators, articulated robots largely comprise a series of “black boxes” whose controls and mechanisms can only be manipulated and serviced by highly trained personnel. This often results in excess downtime when a failure occurs and a trained technician must be called in to service the articulated robot. As a further shortcoming, articulated robots because of their design (the location of drive motors on the arms) that provide their ability to reach are generally limited in their product handling capabilities by either lack of payload capacity or lack of speed. Many case packing applications require the ability to handle a relatively high payload and speed combination.
Accordingly, there exists a continuing need for a device that while providing the sanitary cleaning capabilities of an articulated robot simultaneously provides the relatively small footprint, load handling and case packing capabilities of a gantry robot.